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I hope mine would miss me if I wasn't around, but somehow I doubt it .

A quiet, calm atmosphere, not too much smothering and a good daily routine should go a long way to settling the dog. Routine does more good than anything - once they know what's happening, they become more confident.

every dog's different but best trick seems to be to give them a lot of space and just let them settle in. Don't fuss too much - as Misty said a calm atmosphere and a good daily routine will help a lot. Do you know what age he is? It's probably a good idea to find out what his usual diet is and stick to that as sudden changes sometimes bring a few messy problems

Baxter

Hi ,Baxter is 2 & half,He seems to be ok ,so far so good.I will keep him on diet he was on and hopefully he will settle in ok .My son (whos 5 )thinks hes great and its hard to explain to him that Baxter needs time.I will keep up with everything but I know its a big transition for all of us but especially Baxter.Thanks for the advice

I think Fran has had more experience of new doggies through her doors than most people I know

I agree about keeping it calm. Tbh, whenever we've had one new in the house or even just to stay we just let them get on with it. Not ignore them but not too much fuss either - they usually soon settle in and I definitely agree - routine is what they welcome the most

Tara and I have had good success getting dogs straight onto James Wellbeloved. I have never yet bothered with gradually adding a bit more to their bowl and replacing one with another, nor does anyone I know doing rescue do this, nor do I recommend it to fosters. IMHO it is better to get most dogs off the crap they are generally fed from most homes, and the pound, meaning food from supermarkets all of which is low quality (that is why it is cheap!), and onto something that isn't mostly fillers and meat derivatives -- meaning everything but actual meat, eg what's left over after they butcher a carcass for human consumption, and all the sick and dead carcasses that come in. I've had dogs with bad stomachs settle immediately once moved to something that has good quality ingredients.

Very few dogs really need to be inched over to a new food unless they have extremely sensitive stomachs and have spent a lifetime eating just one food, to the point where anything else is upsetting. Most dogs if they are going to have any upset, have it for a couple days anyway simply from the stress of the changeover -- I sincerely believe it has absolutely nothing to do with them being unable to eat a different food. Indeed some dogs are happier not eating ANYTHING for a day or so -- they won't starve and it avoids feeding food that will just rush back out again.

The main thing with a rescue and a young child is to be aware of the 'child' issues with dogs generally and with rescues (by this I mean any dog coming into a strange situation, where you know little to nothing about the dog) in particular. This means any child under tha age of about 10 needs supervision when around a dog and the dog needs protection from an overly attentive child. A tired, exasperated dog is a dog that will discipline a child itself in dog language -- which can mean a bite when the child unknowingly ignores all its previous polite dog language signals that it is getting pushed to the edge.

Feeding

HI ,The lady I got him from seems to have fed him any kind of dog food,she included Pedigree chum but also food from tescos own brand ,which worries me a lot.What is the best food to feed on the market in Ireland today,He seems to be more interested in tesco food than pedigree ,just tried him on pedigree this morning but wouldnt touch it so switched to hard bag of food and seems more interested .Baxter comes from a home that had 2 young children(5year old and 2&half) so hes used to young kids being around him. Thanks everyone ,you have all been great help.